Hawking Looking Forward to Space
Flight
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World-renowned astrophysicist
Stephen Hawking has taken the first
step towards a trip in space.
"Space, here I come," Hawking said
after completing a weightless flight
over the Atlantic.
The wheelchair-bound scientist was
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taken on a flight aboard a modified Boeing 727 that soared to 32,000 feet and
then plunged 8,000 feet at a sharp angle to create a weightless environment
for about 25 seconds.
The plane made a series of eight plunges, allowing Hawking to experience
about four minutes of weightlessness during the two hour flight.
"It was amazing, " he said afterwards. "The zero-G part was wonderful and the
higher-G part was no problem. I could have gone on and on."
The flight was made possible by US firm Zero Gravity, which normally charges
passengers $3,750 each but waived the fee for Hawking.
For a scientist who has studied gravity and black holes all his life, the event
was a chance to experience firsthand the effects of a zero-gravity environment.
Next up for Hawking will be a trip to space aboard a suborbital spaceship being
built by Virgin Galactic that will offer commercial flights to the edge of space.
Company owner Sir Richard Branson is personally paying the bill costing
$200,000 after Hawking publicly spoke of his desire to go into space.
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Hawking: Humans Must Spread Out in Space to Survive
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Stephen Hawking says humans must find new homes in space to ensure the
species' survival.
Speaking at a question and answer session at the Hong Kong University of
Science and Technology, Hawking stressed the importance of establishing
human settlements elsewhere in the universe because of the threat facing
mankind on earth.
"Life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster,
such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, or
other dangers we haven't yet thought of," said Hawking.
But he quickly added that "if we can avoid killing ourselves for the next 100
years, we should have settlements that can continue without support from Earth.
Hawking, who wrote the best-selling book, "A Brief History of Time," said earth
is unique as far as supporting life is concerned.
"In 20 years, " Hawking predicted, "we could have a permanent base on the
moon, and in 40 years, a base on Mars."
But he said that both the moon and Mars are small and either have no
atmosphere, or not enough.
"We won't find anywhere as nice as Earth unless we go to another star system,"
he said
Hawking, who uses a wheelchair and is almost completely paralyzed, was not
given many years to live when he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in
the 1960s, aged 22.
Now 64, he told the press conference that he studied physics and cosmology
because "I wanted answers to the big questions, why we are here, where did
we come from."
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